Specialist Units
This page lists all of the Specialist Units used in The Bill. These are units that are not defunct Specialist Crime Directorate :Main article: Specialist Crime Directorate The Specialist Crime Directorate (SCD) is one of the main branches of the London Metropolitan Police Service. It deals with a wide range of criminality from murder to organised crime. Assistant Commissioner John Yates is currently the head of the directorate. The Directorate is the lead national police agency with regard to specialist crime investigations such as e-crime, sex crimes (peadophile unit) or kidnappings, hostage taking and contract killings. It encompasses several Operational Command Units: Homicide and Serious Crime (SCD1) Provides the 'murder squads' which investigate nearly all murders in London. Forensic Services (SCD4) Provides crime scene examiners, fingerprinting and photography. Child Abuse Investigation Command (SCD5) Child Abuse Investigation Teams deal with all aspects of this emotive crime, including related murders. Economic and Specialist Crime (SCD6) The remit of this unit includes wildlife crime, antique smuggling, computer crime and fraud. Serious and Organised Crime (SCD7) Responds to crimes including kidnappings and hostage taking. Commercial armed robberies are dealt with by the Flying Squad, which is part of SCD7. Trident and Trafalgar (SCD8) The Trident Operational Command Unit investigate gun crime in the black community, including murder. Trafalgar deals with all other gun crime that does not fall under any other unit's remit. Covert Policing (SCD10) This section undertakes surveillance and other discreet policing tasks. Intelligence (SCD11) Provides intelligence products to the rest of the police service. Specialist Operations :''Main article: Specialist Operations Specialist Operations was a group of twenty specialist Metropolitan Police units which were set up in 1986 as part of Sir Kenneth Newman's restructuring of the Metropolitan Police Service. Most of the units designated SO units were already in existence, many of them as departments of C Division and its branches, and all were presided over by an Assistant Commissioner of Special Operations (ACSO). SO designations Due to continual restructuring of the Metropolitan Police, only a few of the original SO units still exist in their original form and still use the SO designation. These are marked in bold. Where possible, the current name or organisation of the former SO unit is listed in italics. Where the SO designation has been reassigned to another unit, the units are listed in order. '''SO1 - Specialist Protection' * Non-Royal VIP Protection including the Prime Minister, some Secretaries of State of HM Government, visiting heads of state and some ambassadors to the Court of St James. SO2 - Crime Support Branch / Department Support Group SO3 - Scenes of Crime Branch / Directorate of Forensic Services * (now SCD4 Forensic Services) SO4 - National Identification Service SO5 - Miscellaneous Force Indexes / Child Protection * (now SCD5 Child Abuse Investigation Team) SO6 - Fraud Squad * (now SCD6 Economic and Specialist Crime) SO7 - Serious and Organised Crime * (was originally SO1) SO8 - Forensic Science Laboratory / Flying Squad SO9 - Flying Squad * (reassigned to SO8, then became part of SO7) now part of SCD. Flying Squad have always been SO8 ever since SO dept came into being. SO10 - Crime Operations Group * (now SCD10 Covert Policing) SO11 - Criminal Intelligence Branch * (now CO11) SO12 - Special Branch Amalgamated in 2007 with SO13 to form SO15 (Counter Terrorism Command). SO13 - Anti-Terrorism SO14 - Royalty Protection Branch * (part of the Royalty and Diplomatic Protection Department) SO15 - Counter Terrorism Command SO16 - Diplomatic Protection Group * (part of the Royalty and Diplomatic Protection Department) (now CO6) SO17 - PNC Bureau (now the Police Information Technology Organisation) / Palace of Westminster Division (part of the Royalty and Diplomatic Protection Department) (now CO7)) '''SO18 - Aviation Security / Airport Policing ' * (now CO18 Aviation Security Operational Command Unit) SO19 - Force Firearms Unit * (now CO19 Specialist Firearms Command) SO20 - Forensic Medical Examiners Branch Central Operations :''Main article: Central Operations Central Operations (CO) is a major directorate of the London Metropolitan Police Service that provides operational support to the rest of the service. It is commanded by Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur. Notable units include: CO1 - Central Operations HQ CO3 - Emergency Preparedness Operational Command Unit CO10 - Central Communications Command CO11 - Public Order Operational Command Unit *(formerly stood for Public Order Intelligence Unit) CO12 - 2012 Olympics preparation * (formerly stood for Public Order Training) CO14 - Clubs & Vice CO15 - Traffic Operational Command Unit CO16 - Centralised Traffic Criminal Justice Unit CO17 - Transport Operational Command Unit CO18 - Aviation Security * (formerly known as SO18) CO19 - Specialist Firearms Command CO20 - Territorial Support Group These units ARE defunct Territorial Operations :''Main article: Territorial Operations Territorial Operations was a group of eighteen specialist Metropolitan Police units which were set up in 1986 as part of Sir Kenneth Newman's restructuring of the Metropolitan Police Service. The Territorial Operations units were designed to support the Metropolitan Police areas – while area-based policing was designed to decentralise the operations of New Scotland Yard, the TO units were intended to provide central operational and logistic support to Areas and divisional OCUs (Operational Command Units). TO designations Due to restructuring of the Metropolitan Police, Territorial Operations as a group has been disbanded. The current term 'Territorial Policing' refers to the co-operation of divisional OCUs with pan-London units, many of them formerly TO units. The remaining pan-London units are now the remit of Central Operations. Where units have been renamed or reassigned, these are listed in italics. TO1 - General Department Services and HQ Support TO3 - Area Support TO4 - Public Carriage Office * (now the Transport for London Public Carriage Office) TO5 - Central Ticket Office * (now run by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency or local borough authorities) TO6 - Central Services * (now the Firearms Enquiry Team) TO7 - Divisional Support * (now the Charities Office and Borough Licensing Officers) TO9 - Crime and Divisional Policing Policy Branch TO10 - Courts Division TO14 - Traffic * (now CO15 - Traffic Operational Command Unit) TO18 - Public Order Training * (now CO11 - Public Order Unit) TO20 - Public Order * (now CO11 - Public Order Unit) TO25 - Central Communications Branch * (now Command, Control, Communication and Information - C3i) TO26 - Air Support Unit TO27 - Mounted Branch TO28 - Police Dog Section TO29 - Thames Division * (now Marine Support Unit) TO31 - Community Affairs Branch (Vulnerable Groups) TO32 - Community Affairs Branch (Partnership Branch)